


the sweetness that is you

by Bijouu



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Baker Soobin, Class Differences, Dessert & Sweets, Falling In Love, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Choi Beomgyu/Choi Yeonjun, Prince Huening Kai, Romantic Fluff, Undercover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28381755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bijouu/pseuds/Bijouu
Summary: From @halohyuka (twt): sookai au where village patissier Soobin bakes weekly orders for the royal family and prince Hueningkai visits the bakery in disguise to find out who’s been making all those delicious madeleines.
Relationships: Choi Soobin/Huening Kai
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! This is @soobimoroll on twt again. I saw @halohyuka's adorable prompt and asked if I could pick it up and... here it is! I really hope you enjoy it, and I'm going to do my best to keep these chapters short and sweet, and maybe toss in some cute cameos of others that I think you will enjoy!
> 
> Happy holidays, everyone <3 stay safe and stay warm!

Not everyone is a fan of matcha, but Soobin enjoys using it in his baking anyway. The batch isn’t incredibly large, but the color and scent of the batter in the peachy colored mixing bowl is too wonderfully fragrant for him to regret not making an extra bit to keep for himself. With one last consideration, Soobin mixes a tiny bit of lemon juice into the batter before sticking the bowl into the fridge.

“Soobin-ah! They want the usual, and if you can squeeze in another order of red velvet cupcakes before noon, they’ll pay double for it,” Yeonjun calls from somewhere at the front counter, and Soobin readjusts his apron.

As the only patisserie of the only bakery at the kingdom’s capital, Soobin’s work never leaves him with too much extra time. He takes one good look outside and sighs. The sun hasn’t even risen yet, but the orders are still coming in, it seems. Although it’s such a short notice, Soobin is unable to decline such a request from Yeonjun. 

“Did they say how many?” Soobin asks instead. The castle is looming, yet brilliant, and the pinky color of a sunrise is starting to peek right over its banners and crests. They say that the castle is more glamorous than its silhouette seems from the city, that it’s so dreamlike and the royal family themselves are modest despite their status. Soobin has only ever seen the front doors to the palace in his imagination. “Just the usual three?”

Yeonjun, one of the personal guards to the three royal children and the one tasked with keeping them happy (though that wasn’t so difficult to begin with at all), also had the task of putting in the sweets requests for the prince and princesses at the start of each week. “No,” Yeonjun answers with his elbows on the front counter. He has the awful habit of snooping around the display cases. “Miss Lea will be having the lemon bars this week. Red velvet cupcakes for the two youngest, please.”

When Yeonjun lets out a massive yawn, Soobin simply sighs. This guard is also someone that Soobin had grown up with, in their modest town just outside the city, before the both of them had made it to their dream jobs in the capital. 

“Sure. I can do that. There’s a pot of coffee behind the counter. Help yourself.”

“This is why we’re such good friends,” Yeonjun gratefully smiles, helping himself past the half-gate and onto the other side of the counter. The shiny, silver carafe sits patiently full of coffee for him. “The next time I head out of the capital, I’ll bring you something shiny as a thanks.”

“Am I a bird?” Soobin snorts, dipping into the front room as well to pour a mug of coffee for himself too. He steals the carafe when Yeonjun begins to stir sugar into his own mug. It’s a happy little routine, for this early in the morning. 

“Nah, not really. But I know you like it when people think about you. My mom says it has something to do with the Oak Moon.”

“Are you sure you aren’t talking about yourself right now, mister youngest-yet-highest-ranked-guard-on-the-personal-team? Or should I say… royal errand boy?”

Yeonjun’s face scrunches up, and Soobin cheekily darts to the other end of the counter before Yeonjun can land a swat to his ass. 

“We’re  _ both _ up at this ridiculous time in the morning, need I remind you, Soobin-ah,” Yeonjun snorts. “I’m no more of a slave to my craft than you are!”

Soobin merely shrugs and checks the time on the baby blue colored clock above their heads. “I guess it really is different, making a career out of something you love.”

The two of them share a sigh.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to filling orders for now. I need to bring the rest of the week’s bakery menu to Beomgyu’s,” Yeonjun says after they can see the bottom of their coffee cups once again. 

“You know,” Soobin hums, thinking about the main branch of the bakery that oversees the commonfolk’s pastry orders and sends them to Soobin’s establishment, “It’s weird… I’m pretty sure he won’t arrive at the bakery for another hour or so?”

“Yeah, you know,” Yeonjun mumbles, waving a hand around in the air like he’s grasping for the right words. “Beomgyu needs a little help waking up, so I’ll just stop by his place and see if he’s up on his feet yet.”

Soobin fixes Yeonjun with a look, but all the guard does is shrug. “I’ve got time before I need to report back to the palace. And Beomgyu is nice company, even if he is a bit of a brat. Sue me. Anyways, is Arin coming in to work today?”

“She’s on an ingredient run at the market,” Soobin answers easily, flipping a few switches for the interior lights and pretty decor of their patisserie. He knows that Arin, one of his work partners and dedicated patisserie as well, is motivated by cute and clean workspaces. 

“How chivalrous of you.”

“I’ll tell her you said that, she might die laughing,” Soobin answers with a raise of his eyebrow. “Don’t you have a morning date with Beomgyu to be on right now?”

“Don’t tell her, I’ll never hear the end of it,” Yeonjun sighs in defeat. “It’s not a  _ date _ . It's a morning routine. You should know a thing or two about staying on task,” he adds with a little mumble, although Soobin outwardly laughs at the pink on Yeonjun’s cheeks.

For talking so boldly, he knows that Yeonjun is quick to fluster, and as his best friend, Soobin devilishly uses it to his advantage. “I’m just joking,” Soobin singsongs, pretending he wasn’t just slouched on the counter when Yeonjun opens the door and Arin comes walking through, tugging a pink wagon behind her. 

“When you end up with someone, I’m going to make you wish you never told me. I’ll tease you that much,” Yeonjun warns, keeping the door open with his foot for Arin as she tiredly tugs the wagon inside. The bells above the door chime sweetly, even in the early morning, and Yeonjun gives the two of them one last little wave. “Good morning and good luck to you two today! See you later, Soobin-ah.”

“Bye hyung,” Soobin calls, taking the handle of the wagon from Arin as she sighs and reties her hair up off her shoulders. The two of them make their way back, past the half-gate, and into the kitchen, where the ovens have no doubtedly already heated up during his morning talk with Yeonjun. “Oh, you got the nice kind of icing sugar. Is this a new sifter?”

“Yes and yes,” she answers proudly, leaving Soobin to put the ingredients away as she ties an apron around her waist and washes her hands. “I saw that yours is basically falling apart and well… it hardly even counts as a business expense, with the income we’re getting from the royals.”

Soobin is grateful for his coworker. She’s a hardworking person, just as Soobin is, and their closeness in age makes their dynamic not as weird as it would’ve been if Soobin was working with someone years and years older than him. In a way, the two of them were interested in experiments and trying new things, and their humor resonated into a solid workplace. 

“Ready to start the day?” Soobin asks, washing his hands when the sink is once again available, and Arin gives him a solid two thumbs up.

“Another week of sweets,” she grins.

The two of them kick themselves into their usual routine, following the orders that are written up on paper and boards around the walls of the kitchen. Well before the sun rises, well before the people of the beautiful kingdom start flooding into the main bakery, Beomgyu’s place next door, and well before they bring their tickets into the patisserie to redeem for pretty cakes and tarts in the display window, the two of them set to work.

The main bakery which they’re affiliated with is cutely filled with little bear motifs and decorations. And theirs?

There are enough bunny emblems around the storefront to make even the stingiest of people smile. 

That doesn’t matter so much, as the sweets and cakes do, Soobin has always said. He and Arin are fantastic at what they do, so even the overwhelmingly cute and pastel decor are resonant with their dedication to the theme and sugary-ness of the place. They must be the best patisserie around, to have kept the royals as customers for this long, after all. 

“What song is this?” Soobin asks, piping the new matcha madeleine batter onto their shell molds. For extra sweetness in contrast to the matcha flavor, Soobin sticks chocolate chips into each mold. “It’s pretty catchy.”

The little bakery is already filled with delicious smells, but it’s even nicer to have some sweet music playing all throughout the store and kitchen. 

“I don’t know,” Arin, from where she has been mixing the batter for the young heiress’s lemon bars, hums. “Must be pretty new.” 

Either way, she scoots closer to the radio and turns it up a few notches. “You’re right though. It’s pretty catchy!” She agrees, continuing to hum along to the melody as their work continues.

In their routine, the windows eventually come open, and their other coworkers who manage the front counter eventually arrive as well. The sky is pink and gold in the early morning light, and Soobin can hear them mopping and picking up the front just before it’s time to open shop. 

The shop opens the same time as the bakery next door does, and Soobin keeps his eyes on the clock on the wall, timing the royals’ orders to be first. 

True to Soobin’s promise, he boxes an extra set of red velvet cupcakes, topped with elegant swirls of cream cheese frosting, and he ties a pastel blue ribbon around the box. As one last part of the display, he pulls a card from their shelf of many shipment decor, and details the contents of the cupcake box on it in pen, with the nicest handwriting that he can muster at this time in the morning. 

“Soobin, pickup is here!” One of the front counter attendants, Jaemin, calls. He pokes his head into the kitchen, just as Soobin finishes tying their business card onto the box of sampler madeleines. “Need a minute?”

“Just ten seconds or so,” Soobin answers without picking his head up. The patisserie’s logo is on the card, facing out near the bow of the box, as it usually does. The sub-bakery’s emblem, a bunny silhouette with a little apron, proudly faces its recipient as Soobin slides the box over the counter to Jaemin. “Done! Is Yeonjun picking up today?”

Jaemin shakes his head, making to answer, though his attention is pulled away by another bell at the counter. “Pretty sure I saw Yeonjun heading back to the palace earlier today,” he quickly says, gratefully taking the box and leaving the kitchen. 

Soobin’s fingers and wrists ache, from mixing and kneading, from rolling things out, but there’s so much chatter outside the glass windows and in the front of the store, that it melts the soreness away the more that he thinks about it. Since he was young, Soobin has always found happiness in other peoples’ happiness.

The palace is gleaming, down the stone roads and past all the busy people of the capital. They adjust their hats under the warm sun, and Soobin just wishes that maybe someone today will enjoy matcha madeleines. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It reminds Kai of when he sneakily took his older sister’s perfume and went around the palace smelling sweetly of raspberries. Perhaps the nostalgia is what has Kai loving the sweet vanilla of the madeleine and the tart raspberry cream so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! As promised, these chapters will be pretty short and sweet. You can find me @soobimoroll on twt! 
> 
> Happy new year!

_ ‘From left to right: _

_ Matcha with chocolate chips _

_ Tiramisu with espresso filling _

_ Lemon with sweet glaze _

_ Classic vanilla with raspberry cream _

_ Enjoy your madeleines! _

_ -Honeybun Patisserie’ _

“They’re always boxed so prettily,” Kai smiles, when his guard and good friend of a solid year or two, Yeonjun, sets a perfectly tied pastry box on the table between them. As the afternoon is just about to begin, the prince routinely waits in the garden for a snack. Although it seems like such a useless part of Kai’s routine, he usually takes his breakfasts early, when his sisters are also awake, and because a few hours have passed since then, it has left Kai’s stomach rumbling before lunch.

It’s comfortably warm today, and just after noon, Kai knows to expect some special company at any moment. “Do you think these would be better, warmed up? Ooh, they really went all out with this sampler. Look how many colors these madeleines are coming in.” 

“If you wish for them to be warmed, I’ll gladly make it happen before your guest arrives,” Yeonjun hums. Kai’s hands are gentle, long fingers pulling away at the ribbon until it falls right into Yeonjun’s awaiting palms. That guard bundles up the ribbon after the prince does away with it. “If it were up to me though… I think the icing would come right off, if it’s warmed up even more.” 

“Ah, right,” Kai bashfully acknowledges, covering the box once again as he waits. “I’ll just have it like this.” 

He fiddles with the patisserie’s business card, turning it between his fingers. The logo is a cute little thing, a bunny with an apron, and Kai laughs through his nose in amusement. The gold foils around the edges of the cardstock twinkle just right in the afternoon sun, and although the pretty thing usually gets discarded, he decides to pocket the card for once. “Would you like to try one too?”

Yeonjun smiles, but shakes his head. “I know this patisserie personally, so I’m well fed by them every morning run. Thank you, though.”

Kai and his family have always been on the more casual side of the “royalty” spectrum. His immediate family, as well as auntie and his cousins, didn’t enjoy partaking in overly glamorous things. Perhaps the most expensive thing about the palace was its architecture. Kai preferred to make his purchases right from the residents of the kingdom anyways, even if he has never properly gone into the capital without an escort and protective clothing to conceal his identity. 

Although the citizens might not know exactly what Kai looks like, the general sentiment toward the royal family is a positive one, and that’s the most that Kai can ask for, given his situation. 

In all honesty, Kai enjoys making connections with others in various ways, but he is the type to be temporarily shy to newcomers. Although the royal family isn’t crazy about wealth and gold and imports, and they don’t look down their noses at the commoners (really what a rude word to call the citizens anyways), Kai understands that there’s a certain level of protection that’s necessary. Some people don’t know what his family is like, and honestly, it isn’t up to Kai to judge them for that. 

The whole “needing a guard” thing that his family and other nobles had insisted though, was mainly for safety and peace of mind. Kai considered Yeonjun as more of a companion and friend than just another similarly aged guard. “You can sit, you know.”

“I really can’t do that,” Yeonjun snorts, patting the prince’s shoulder’s appreciatively though.

“Oh… no one’s even around,” Kai sighs after swiveling his head around to look. True to his word, it’s just them on this furnace terrace. There are more than enough trees to protect them from the sun; this is mainly the area that he and his two sisters share anyways. It just so happens that on the days that they can’t join him for snacks, he has different company instead. 

Kai conveniently sticks a leg out under the tea table and nudges one of the metal chairs out for Yeonjun. It rattles on the terrace, and the noise makes Yeonjun roll his eyes, much to Kai’s amusement. “Are you sure?” the prince asks again, attempting to appear more convincing than before.

The guard once again shakes his head, and though thoroughly amused this time, gently tucks the chair back in. “Young prince,” Yeonjun exaggerates, just to watch Kai’s face cringe, “honestly… I just don’t want to be made fun of by the others for sitting on the job,” Yeonjun answers, ending his confession with a little, sheepish laugh. Kai does, though, recognize the sincerity in Yeonjun’s expression.

“Alright, alright, I won’t ask anymore,” Kai yields, holding his hands up in surrender. They have this conversation every time, and even his sisters have attempted to get Yeonjun to cave, but he’s a resilient guard to the core. “If you want me to… I dunno, boss you around a little, I can do that. Just so you have something to tell your guard friends. Might get a little too used to it though-”

“Ay- you brat, you wouldn’t!” Yeonjun huffs, and Kai tosses his head back in a croaking laugh, holding his hands up to shield his hair from one of Yeonjun’s dangerous hair ruffles. 

Afternoons like this were the best, Kai thinks, trying to ease himself down from uneven giggles, so joyful that his eyes scrunch up into happy crescents. 

“Kai-yah!” A different voice calls from the terrace gate, and the prince quickly stands and opens his arms to receive his best friend. 

“Taehyunie,” Kai easily replies, trying his best not to laugh when Taehyun tosses his arms up and over the prince’s shoulders. “You look really nice! All that sun at the coast is doing you well, isn’t it?” 

“It’s fun,” Taehyun answers, pulling himself away from Kai’s shoulders. When he beams, a dimple peeks out from one of his cheeks, and that was something that the prince just loved to see. “Yeonjun hyung, it’s nice to see you too,” he politely adds to the guard, standing just over the prince’s side.

Yeonjun is everything, including fond, when Kai and Taehyun’s schedules align and they’re given the rare day off to each other. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Way too long,” Kai dramatically sighs, but Taehyun only laughs as they take their seats at the modest tea table. 

In a way, Taehyun, being the son of respected scholars, is much busier than Kai,. There’s a lot to learn about the world, and Taehyun journeys and surveys this beautiful place, only to bring back some equally beautiful stories to Kai, who has no option but to wait at home for him.

In fact, despite their still-young ages, there’s a lot expected of both Kai and Taehyun. It’s nothing more than the older generations wanting the younger ones to achieve more, do more, but the two of them try to take the days as they come, one at a time. 

Kai truly does his best to be understanding of Taehyun’s more difficult schedule too, even if their distance becomes a little lonely at times.

That’s the best thing about his friendship and closeness with Taehyun though, Kai thinks as they make themselves more comfortable at the table. Even after time apart, the trust they had between their bond allows them to pick up wherever they left off; no doubts at all.

The terrace is just shady enough that the sun isn’t blinding, but they’re not cast in the shadow of nearby trees either. It’s as perfect as one afternoon could be. 

“What are we having today?” Taehyun asks. “I’ve missed home-baked sweets.”

“A madeleine sampler,” Kai eagerly grins. Since Yeonjun had shown him the box, he has wanted nothing more than to take a bite out of the pretty, shell-shaped pastries. “Yeonjun hyung actually recommended it, and I’ve had the plain ones before and they were super good. Right, hyung?”

“Something like that,” Yeonjun laughs, pouring tea for the two younger ones, once again just to be polite. He knows that Kai doesn’t particularly enjoy things such as class differences, even on the clock like this, but some of Yeonjun’s training has turned particular behaviors into habits. “I’ve had all these flavors before, and they’re just as good as the plain ones. Promise.”

Taehyun rolls his long sleeves up to his elbows, and Kai isn’t surprised to see little scribbles of ink here and there on his honey skin, probably mindless little notes that Taehyun has made when he didn’t have a notebook on him. It’s endearing, and Kai smiles between Yeonjun and Taehyun as they converse a little, nodding along to their conversation. 

The prince enjoys this the most, being in good company and sharing food. He knows that it’s a luxury, a privilege to do so at this time in the afternoon when most people were at work, but even royalty needed breaks from doing important things, he’d been told. It was especially exciting though, that Taehyun had come back from wherever he was in the world, looking so brightly. He flourished, breaking free of the kingdom’s grounds and exploring with those incredible, searching eyes of his.

Kai wasn’t jealous of him, but he wondered just what it was like, further from the palace grounds that he was mostly confined to.

“Let me tell you about this place I visited,” Taehyun excitedly smiles, and Kai doesn’t deny him of his excitement, eagerly offering his ear to Taehyun as they move the madeleines onto their own plates. 

Listening is an easy thing. Kai is a curious soul, and he asks more questions than his teachers and company can keep up with. He likes to keep his hands busy and his mind at work, but he also enjoys little things in life. Maybe that’s the reason why Kai ends up distracted with his plate for just a second or two.

The madeleines are delicious. They’re more than delicious- they’re even making all of Kai’s jaw tingle. He holds onto his cheek, peering again into the box of samplers. “God, what flavor was that?” Kai asks, eyes twinkling. “We were having the matcha one, Taehyunie?” 

“Huh? Oh yeah, I think so,” Taehyun answers around a bite. “Mm, this is a nice place. Still ordering from Honeybun?”

“It’s my favorite place,” Kai answers instead, stealing one of the fallen chocolate chips off of Taehyun’s plate. 

The prince isn’t so much of a fan of matcha on the regular, but he’s rather keen on making an exception for these treats. When Yeonjun pours he and Taehyun another cup of tea to pass the time, Kai doesn’t even try to hide how he reaches into the pretty box for another flavor. This one is equally as fragrant, and it reminds Kai of when he sneakily took his older sister’s perfume and went around the palace smelling sweetly of raspberries.

Perhaps the nostalgia is what has Kai loving the sweet vanilla of the madeleine and the tart raspberry cream so much.

Being the second royal child out of three, Kai doesn’t have too many responsibilities outside of learning diplomatic things inside and out. He wants to learn and achieve, but finding exactly  _ what _ that is, is more difficult of a task than anything. Goals, adventures, and his contributions to the family are too much to think about every hour of the day. The prince likes to live in the present.

Here on the terrace, and with the sweet memory of his childhood on his tongue, Kai truly allows himself to enjoy the moment. As Taehyun continues to chat, the prince takes one last look at the box, feels the presence of the patisserie’s card in his pocket, and wonders if he ought to search for his current ‘moments’ himself. 

  
  



End file.
